Horn Lengths

[TBCooper]

I've been toying with the idea of building some Khorns and would like to know what the length of the midrange horn should be. Can a guy use horns from other speakers e.g. Cornwalls? I have seen some horns around, but I don't know if they would suit.

Terry

[lynnm]

Yes Cornwalls are an excellent match for the Khorn as are the Lascala,Belle and Heresy. They are all voiced ( ie. Have the same characteristic sound in the midrange and treble) the same way.

That said building a Khorn clone is not easy as the bass bin is extremely complicated. If you have the equipment and woodworking skills it can be a rewarding project. This is not a task for the weekend warrior in my opinion however.

Plans often come up on Ebay but unfortunately few are really accurate.

[WMcD]

The K-400 is about 21 inches long. With the driver on, it comes to about 24 inches. This is why it fits in a LaScala cabnet which has a bass horn which is a 2 foot cube.

The mouth is 100 square inches. Flare rate is 273 Hz (I recall).

I can send you the article by PWK on the K-400 if you want.

I've built several midrange horns. My first was a variation on the K-400 using 3/4 inch ply for the top and bottom pieces. Then I bent thin plywood around the sides.

Some people want to do all the construction themselves. I was one of those. It is a type of insanity.

Klispch will sell you a K-401. Last I heard, prices were $100 to $200.

The SpeakerLab plans for the K-Horn bass are supposed to be pretty good. There are also plans for the EV version. As you will see, the K-horn is very difficult to cut pieces for. But many here have done it.

If you want a more simple project, the bass horn on the LaScala is relatively easy.

Gil

[TBCooper]

I would appreciate you sending me the article by PWK on the K-400. I am just gathering info now and once I find out where to get all of the parts and how much the will cost to purchase and deliver, I will start making the K-Horns. I have the speakerlab plans and they do not look too difficult to make. After making two K-Horns I was going to make a LaScala for the center speaker. Maybe I should start with the latter since you say it is much easier, just need the plans.

You say that Klipsch sells the K-401. Where do I find them as after talking to a local dealer, I was under the impression that they would not sell all of the parts needed to a DIY that wanted to make his own?

Thanks,

Terry

[WMcD]

It is a do-able project.

Call 1-800-KLIPSCH and ask for the parts department.

I think you'll find they will sell you the K-401 which is the more recent plastic/fiberglass/composit form of the midrange horn.

They will also sell you a K-33 woofer.

We've all be posting various crossover schematics. Make a search.

Atlas makes a good midrange driver.

The only difficult part is to find an EV-35 tweeter. But they can be found on e-bay.

Again, if you have the time, determination, and skills, this can be done and there are a few of us here who have made home made K-Horns.

Best,

Gil

[formica]

Just to clarify:

Tweeter: Klipsch K-77 (same as ElectroVoice T35A) has the same driver and horn on all the Heritage models Heresy, Cornwall, LaScala, Khorn, Belle, etc... and any will do

Mid Range: Klipsch K-55 (Driver used to be made by Atlas but I don't have the number) the DRIVER is the same in all the heritage models, but the HORN is Not. There are only two models with the horn (a K400 or K401) you need and those are the LaScala and the Khorn. You can get the driver and horn from different models and mix and match them as it's a screw in type of driver...

Woofer: Klipsch K-33 is the same on the Khorn, LaScala, Belle, and Cornwall. You may see K43 drivers around, and these are from the commercial LaScala and have a higher power rating but less bass extension (or so I've been told)

Crossover: is unique to each model, and has had several revisions over the years. To complicate things, there are different revisions to each driver and the x-overs were adjusted for this with each revision. For example the midrange drivers were released as K-55, K-55-M and K-55-X... and each had a different corresponding x-over.

If you search these forums, esp "odds and mods", Andy, aka: HDBRbuilder, posted the LaScala plans with the corrected Klipsch dimensions. These are more accurate than the Speakerlab ones also in circulation in the same forum.

Good luck...

Rob

[klipsch-freak]

Hi,

Can YOU please send me a copie of the K-400 article from P W Klipsch.

Thanks.

Best regards,Philippe B

[D-MAN]

Howdy! I am a fan of DIY...

Having recently build a pair of Khorns myself, I opted to make some "adjustments" in the driver end of things. I had a late 70's pair of clones back when so I knew what I wanted and didn't want. Personally, I never liked the standard EV T-35 tweeter, so I opted for a different type that goes higher but kept the phenolic diaphram approach. Experimented with various woofers in the cabinet and settled on the Klipsch K33E as the best for the application (happily the price was reasonable, too). Opted for a 2" throat Selenium phenolic diaphram mid-driver on a P-audio 400Hz fc horn. Bought a pair of ALK crossovers from Al K. I think that I have better reponse than what I had in the 70's, but then, I spent more, too. Would I do it again? I would get the Klipsch midrange horn and driver setup, I think. The mid-range/bass horn match up is trickier than I had ever expected.

For what its worth here's my hard-won advise (which you didn't ask for but I am going to write anyway)and hopefully you won't have the same issues that I did, but I wanted corner horns, DAMMIT, so here's what I learned in the process:

1) build the pair of Khorns first. Granted, it is the most daunting approach especially for the "first timer", but it seems to me that you can live longer with a pair of corner horns without a center channel than if you have only a center channel built and burned out before starting on the larger (and more expensive) project. It was all I could do to build the 2 bass cabinets on the back porch last winter, so that colors my opinion greatly concerning project "burnout". 3 speakers would definately been beyond my capability, so plan accordingly. Of course, environmental comfort was a definate NO SHOW in my project. I look at it like all great artists have to suffer in order to produce great "ART".

2) Use the gluing/construction methods outlined by HDRBuilder in his LA SCALA posts. He knows his stuff.

Do NOT do the Speakerlab-recommended thing with the silicone sealant unless you screw it up and need to seal the hole(s). If you go the sealant route, you must first wait for the wood glue to dry before applying the silicone. If you follow the glue-only approach, you will be able to complete the project faster and thus avoid "burnout". I would say that 3 days are in order including "glue-dry" time, but not including finishing (veneer, etc.). I did the silicone thing and thus stretched the procedure out by about 3 days apiece.

3) I bought the ALK crossover pair from Al K. so I didn't have to build one. The was the most expensive single part of the project, but worth it.

4) The top cabinets, grill cloth, veneering and other finishing aesthetic issues need to eventually be dealt with and I still haven't made them pretty after 8 months. But they sound pretty!

5) I build the pair sequencially, as I figured out the short falls on building the first cabinet, so I knew pretty much what I was doing on the second one by the time I got there. Having build a pair, the next set I would go with the simultaneous approach.

6) 2 tools worth every penny:

a) battery-driven drills (get 2 - one for drilling/countersinking and one for driving - saves time if you aren't constantly changing bits)and extra charged batteries for same.

air-powered nail gun (for tacking glued parts for subsequent screwing, etc.)

Happy building!

DM

[rigma]

TBCooper,

I have a set of LaScala plans and will make a copy and trade for a copy of your Speaker Lab KHorn plans. I built the Speaker Lab KHorns about 20 years ago, but since lost the plans, and would advise the same about wood glue instead of Silicon. I did apply a bead of Silicon to all joints after the glue dried. I also recently upgraded to AL K's crossovers which I built from his plans, well worth it. Also I feel you must have access to a good table saw to make some of the complex cuts!

MB